Athletic Bilbao host Valencia at the San Mamés in the first leg of the second semi-final of the Spanish Copa del Rey on Thursday.

The hosts, runners-up in the previous edition, are firm favorites to secure a place in the final, having defeated defending champions Barcelona in their Round of 16 and inflicted a 1-0 defeat at Real Madrid in the quarter-finals. finals last week.

Valencia beat Cadiz in the quarter-finals with Hugo Duro scoring the winning goal after Goncalo Guedes’ strike was canceled out by a Lucas Perez penalty.

The hosts came from behind to register a 2-1 win over Espanyol while Valencia played out a goalless draw at home to Real Sociedad in their midweek La Liga game.

Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia head-to-head

The two rivals have faced each other 181 times in all competitions and the game was closely contested between them. The visiting side have 71 wins to their name while the hosts are not far behind with 66 wins. The loot was split 44 times between the two rivals.

It will be the first meeting between the two teams in the Copa del Rey since the 1967 final, when Valencia recorded a 2-1 victory. They last met in the league at the Mastella in September, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw, which was their third consecutive stalemate played between the two sides.

Athletic Bilbao forms guide (all competitions): WWWWL

Valencia form guide (all competitions): DWLDW

Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia Team News

Athletic Bilbao

There are some injury issues for Los Leones as Unai Vencedor remains out with a hamstring injury while Nico Williams is also expected to stay out with a hamstring injury picked up against Real Madrid last week.

Injured: Nicholas Williams

Doubtful: Unai Vencedor

Unavailable: Nothing

Valence

Omar Alderete and Jasper Cillessen underwent light training on Wednesday but face a race against time to prove their fitness ahead of the first leg. Yunus Musah joined the training session after appearing in the World Cup qualifiers for the United States national team and is in contention to start here.

Uros Racic and Hugo Guillamón are likely to miss this game as the former is said to be suffering from a muscle injury while the latter is recovering from surgery for a broken nasal bone.

Injured: Gabriel Pauliste

Doubtful: Uros Racic, Hugo Guillamon, Omar Alderete, Jasper Cillessen

Suspended: Nothing

Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia Predicted XI

XI predicted by Athletic Bilbao (4-4-2): Unai Simon (GK); Mikel Balenziaga, Inigo Martinez, Yeray Alvarez, Oscar De Marcos; Oier Zarraga, Dani Garcia, Iker Muniain, Alex Berenguer; Raul Garcia, Inaki Williams

Valencia Predicted XI (4-3-2-1): Giorgi Mamardashvili (GK); José Gaya, Mouctar Diakhaby, Omar Alderete, Cristian Rivero; Carlos Soler, Daniel Wass, Hugo Duro; Helder Costa, Gonçalo Guedes; Max Gomez

Athletic Bilbao vs Valencia Prediction

Athletic Bilbao have enjoyed excellent form in 2022 and have suffered just one defeat to their name this year. They have recorded wins over Barcelona and Real Madrid in their last two home games in the competition and are the first leg favourites.

Los CheBoth defeats this year have come on their travels and they might struggle to implement their plan of action against the hosts. A narrow win for Athletic Bilbao seems the likely outcome of the game.

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Prediction: Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Valencia